The Lily and the Snake
by Invaderk
Summary: [LESS] An ancient grudge is more than enough reason to fight and hate, but some are willing to risk more than reason to achieve what was once thought to be the impossible.
1. Severus Unmasked

A/N: As I said, this story has been pretty much re-written for my sake as well as yours. I hope you like this better than the old version! I was really torn with deleting the old version because I got pretty reviews on it and a few people had it in their favorites and it's depressing to have a story on your favorites list disappear. D: Oh well, a new day is here:D

As always, I don't really think that this ship actually happened, though it would have been cool, but it's really fun to write and read. Aaaand… I've fixed it up so that it could possibly make sense in canon. You get the jist of it, I'm sure.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!

* * *

**The Lily and the Snake **

Chapter One - Severus Unmasked 

Peter Pettigrew sat with Frank Longbottom at the edge of the lake, their feet in the cool water. Frank had his books laid out on his lap, as he was studying for the upcoming N.E.W.T's. Peter, who found studying to be a slight waste of time, lay on his back in the grass and stared at the clear sky.

"That was a great game, wasn't it?" Peter asked as he slowly kicked his feet in the water.

"Excellent," Frank agreed with a curt nod, not looking up from his astronomy book. "Those snakes didn't stand a chance. How many goals did James score, anyway? At least ten."

"Eleven," squeaked Peter, "The Slytherin keeper didn't have a chance! He's pathetic."

Frank laughed genuinely, pausing only to give Peter a sly look.

"Pettigrew, you underestimate. All Slytherins are pathetic. I mean, those two boulders Crabbe and Goyle can hardly walk by themselves," Frank said matter-of-factly as he jotted down a note from his textbook.

Peter turned his head to watch across the grounds. He suddenly jumped up in alarm, hs hand flying to his back pocket in search of his wand.

"Well, I hope they're as bad at dueling as they are at speaking, 'cos here they come!"

Frank jumped up as if his pants were on fire and drew out his wand. Peter cowered behind a few paces, his own wand clutched in his hand. As much as he didn't want to fight, and as much as he feared getting hurt, he knew better than to dessert Frank in his time of need. The two boulder-like Slytherins were indeed strolling over with smug looks upon their stupid faces, both with their wands drawn and held out like torches.

"What do you want?" Frank asked coldly as the two approached.

"What do we want?" Goyle repeated in a conceited grunt, "Where did you learn manners?"

"The same place you learned magic."

"Are you trying to say something, Longbottom?"

Frank opened his mouth to reply that he was trying to insult them, but he closed it and turned back to Peter.

"Do you think we'll get points docked if we insult them?" Frank whispered to Peter without taking his eyes off the Slytherins.

Peter nodded vigorously, his watery eyes darting from Crabbe to Goyle. Frank turned back to the black and green-clad Slytherins. He raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not insulting you," Frank said coolly, "I am merely insulting in general."

Crabbe laughed. "In general? I don't know what you mean, Longbottom."

Frank raised an eyebrow and coolly said, "What a surpri –"

Sirius suddenly ran up the grass and stopped beside Frank, looking at Peter intently. Frank stopped mid-comment and closed his mouth dejectedly.

"Wormtail, we've been looking for y –!" He started but, caught sight of the two Slytherins glaring daggers at Frank and Peter.

"Who're you insulting then, Longbottom?" Goyle grunted, ignoring Sirius completely.

"Your entire Slytherin house."

With that last comment, Goyle pointed his wand at Frank, whose nose began to spurt blood. Frank, taken aback for a moment, stumbled and then aimed a well-chosen hex at Goyle. Goyle's breath left him, as if he had been kicked in the stomach, and he fell to the ground. Sirius gave a roar and jumped between the fighting pair.

"House points!" Sirius exclaimed as Frank tried to aim a hex at Crabbe from under Sirius' arm. "We were neck and neck this morning with Ravenclaw!" Sirius paused briefly before adding, "Not only that, but you've got a major advantage, Frank."

Goyle attempted to crawl to his feet, panting.

"And what's that, Black?" He grunted through a wheezy breath. He grabbed onto Crabbe and the latter helped him to his feet.

"He's got talent!"

"Sirius, don't get involved in this!" Frank yelled as Peter shrunk away from view, clearly avoiding Crabbe, who had raised his wand menacingly.

"Yes, don't bother your pretty head," drawled an icy voice that made everyone spin around. "You would only lose."

There stood Lucius Malfoy, his pale, pointed face in a sneer and his wand aloft.

"You think so, Malfoy?" Sirius said, brandishing his wand like a sword.

There was a flash of light and Malfoy was dangling upside-down by his ankle with blood rushing to his pale face. He aimed at Sirius. There was a _bang_ followed by a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, Sirius was on the ground, boils popping al over his face. Lucius fell to the ground and landed on his face, causing his nose to break. He gave a yell and rolled over, clamping his hand over his broken nose. Everybody could clearly see the blood rushing through Lucius' pale fingers and down his robe-clad arm.

"Stop! Stop it right now!"

McGonagall was rushing forward, her hat askew and her robes sweeping the grass behind her. She pulled Malfoy unmercifully to his feet and fixed his bleeding nose. Everyone stared in silence, watching the professor apprehensively as she fumed.

"This has gone far enough!" she yelled, pointing at the six students. "If there is any more fighting between the houses, I have no choice but you suspend, or possibly expel you!"

Peter covered his mouth in horror, but everyone else just stared back blankly. Malfoy beckoned Crabbe and Goyle, and they followed their leader off the premises, Malfoy nonchalantly siphoning the blood from his face. McGonagall spared the four Gryffindors a severe look before turning on her heel and heading off towards the castle, straightening her hat as she walked. Frank began to draw off the blood from his face while Sirius motioned Peter to follow him. Sirius raised his brows mischievously at Frank before hurrying off, Peter at his heels.

-

The potions in the dungeons were simmering in their cauldrons, and the rest of the period was supposed to be a quiet study. However, most of the seventh-years were chit-chatting nonchalantly about the upcoming events and the announcement that had been made yesterday. McGonagall's voice had boomed out of nowhere in particular, warning that the fighting amongst the seventh-year Gryffindors and Slytherins was so terrible that if anyone was caught fighting any more for the rest of the year, they would have to be expelled or suspended, depending on the circumstances. McGonagall had sounded weary and tired, as if the fighting was causing her more fatigue than teaching was.

While the students around him chatted, however, Severus was still busy at three cauldrons. One, which was the one that he was supposed to be preparing for class, was completed and simmering away. The other two, which he was creating for extra credit, were yet to be finished, and he was slaving over them. The announcement had bothered him deeply; e was not going to take any bull from James lying down, but nor could he strike back. Not only that, but Lucius had become more and more aggressive over the past months towards the Gryffindors – even more so than deemed 'human' by Severus' standards. He threw an ingredient moodily into the potion, unaware that someone was staring intently at the back of his head. A someone with vibrant green, almond-shaped eyes and long, dark red hair. Lily Evans had nursed the smallest of crushes on Severus since fifth year, and the crush had nearly died when he had insulted her during the post-O.W.L. incident. Those feelings, though, had been short-lived and Lily had happily gone back to watching Severus from afar and in secret. Well, almost in secret. The only person who had figured out her secret was Remus, who, being intelligent and literal, found this revelation neither surprising nor disturbing. Lily knew that her secret was safe with Remus, for he regarded it with, well, utmost secrecy. Unfortunately for everyone, Lily's crush had become more increasingly obsessive over the past year, and this is where the story really begins.

Remus watched as Lily stared at the greasy, unpopular git in front of them. He smirked and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Enjoying yourself, Lily?"

Lily jumped and turned to face Remus, looking slightly embarrassed. She grinned sheepishly and the two of them looked back at Severus. Lily knew that Severus was far from attractive, but a few of his habits were very appealing to her. Probably the most appealing to her was the way he always tied his hair back when working with potions. She wasn't sure why she liked this so much, but she supposed it was just one of those things.

"In love, Lily?" Remus asked in a semi-taunting voice that he saved only for her obsession with Severus.

"Out — "

"Of love?"

"Out of his favor, where I am in love," Lily sighed, picking up her quill and then moodily dropping it back down on the desk.

"You really like him, don't you?" Remus asked, dropping his humor at once upon seeing Lily's mood.

"Yeah, well, of course… but it would never work."

"Why not?" Remus pressed.

Lily turned back to Remus with a sardonic expression. She laughed in cruel sarcasm and several people turned around to see what the cause for laughter had been, but went back to their activities when they saw nothing groundbreaking. Lily glanced around the room and at Severus, who was still busy, and lowered her voice as she spoke to Remus.

"Are you kidding, Remus?" she said, "He's a Slytherin! And not just any Slytherin, either."

She shook her head and thought vaguely of James, who had become a great friend this year, once he had dropped the 'will you go out with me?' act. Lily obviously wasn't interested in James, anyway, and he had a new girlfriend. Though, she liked to muse, he was a lot more attractive now that his head was significantly deflated.

Lily continued, "He's James' worst enemy and he's a greasy slimeball git. It's like Romeo and Juliet, minus the part where he likes me back."

Remus nodded, a slight frown turning in the corners of his mouth.

"Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair Hogwarts, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

Lily stared at Remus and he gave a small shrug and an even smaller grin.

"Sorry," he said, "it's one of my favorites. Good battle scenes."

"Right…" Lily replied vaguely, her stare drifting back to the man sitting a few feet in front of her.

Lily had recently felt herself falling for Severus more swiftly than before. She wasn't sure why she liked him, either, seeing as she had not exchanged many words with him. She even supposed that she was being a bit shallow, liking him for his looks. But then, she would remind herself, there was not much to look at. Severus was scrawny as hell, thin, weary. He always looked underfed and abused, with dark circles under his eyes and sunken cheeks that made him look sleep-deprived. For some reason, however, this only made her like him more. Whenever their eyes met in the halls, his dark ones with her bright ones, she would get the urge to run over, give him a hug, and nurse him back to health. Once in a while she wondered if she had caught him staring at her, but he always looked away when she turned around. It wasn't as if she'd never spoken to him before. They'd been potions partners on a regular basis and, over a simmering cauldron, had chatted vaguely. None of these chats seemed to have wielded anything more than a reason for Severus to dislike Lily; she often outsmarted him in Potions class.

Lily was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone come up from behind her and call her name.

"Evans? Hello, Evans?"

Lily jumped and turned around to see Jackson Smith standing behind her chair.

"Hello Evans, could I have a word?"

Lily sighed and turned back to a normal sitting position in the chair without a word. Smith was becoming quite the stalker. In fact, Lily reflected darkly, Smith could probably give James a run for his galleons. Smith ran around to the front of her desk and placed his hands on it as he leaned over. Lily looked up; Slughorn was nowhere to be seen in the classroom. How inconvenient.

"Evans, Lily, please give me a chance," Smith pleaded, "I'm _crazy_ over you!"

Lily noticed that Severus had become intently still with his head turned slightly to the right, as if to hear Lily's conversation better. Lily fought a smile and a blush crept up her neck. She looked into Smith's puppy-dog eyes and tried to look sympathetic.

"I'm sorry," Lily said loudly enough for Severus to hear without turning around, "but my heart belongs to another."

At this, several people turned to watch. Remus became suddenly very interested in his cuticles and Severus abandoned all pretence and spun around in his chair, expressionless. For a moment Lily wondered if she saw worry flicker across his face, but the next second, it had gone. Smith looked as if he had been confunded.

"Who?" he asked in disbelief.

Lily only smiled and replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Smith, so I'll save my breath."

Smith opened his mouth as if to protest, but seemed to think better of it. He closed his mouth and walked away, his shoulders hunched in disappointment. Severus, however, remained watching Lily for a moment longer with slightly narrowed eyes. He caught Lily's eye and they shared a consequential glance before he turned back to his three cauldrons with his brows furrowed. Without turning her head away, Lily moved her eyes and looked at Remus, who was looking at her likewise. He shook his head, chuckled, and went back to his homework.

-

Severus tossed his bag unceremoniously and flopped down onto his bed. He buried his face in his cool pillow and sighed. He was exhausted, what with his extra work and N.E.W.T.s looming ahead faster than he felt comfortable. Suddenly Lucius burst into the room, brandishing a piece of pink, sparkly paper in his hand.

"Snape!" he exclaimed excitedly, running forward, "Look at this!"

Severus groaned and reluctantly lifted himself into a sitting position. He snatched the paper out of Lucius' hand and blinked as sparkles fell onto his robes. As he read the paper, he felt himself pale, if possible.

_Masquerade Ball _

_On the tenth of March in the Great Hall _

_9pm – 12 am_

_Masks and dress robes required for entry _

He looked up from the paper slowly with his eyebrows raised. Lucius stared back in anticipation.

"Are you actually implying," Severus said, "that you want me to go to this, this…" Severus looked back down at the paper with doubt, then back up at Lucius. "Masquerade?"

Lucius nodded and Severus sighed.

"Not a chance in the world, my friend," Severus said plainly, "I don't know what drugs you're on, but I'm not on them. Especially not enough to go to something as pathetic as a ball. I'll bet Dumbledore just planned it to bond the houses."

He handed the sparkly paper back to Lucius with a sympathetic pat on the arm. Lucius seemed to consider Snape's words before shrugging them off without a backward glance.

"Good luck with that," Severus said, and then closed the hangings around his four-poster.

"Come on, Snape! Isn't there _someone_ you'd like to dance with?"

Severus was about to reply that no, he didn't, thank you very much, when he remembered that day's potions class, and the meaningful glance he had shared with Lily Evans.

"Yes." He replied.

"Who?"

Severus smirked in spite of himself and replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Malfoy, so I'll save my breath."

-

The night of the ball, Lily stood in the mirror with her best female friend, Anne. They were both donned in beautiful dresses – Lily's was the same color as her eyes and Anne's was white. Anne's blonde curls were twisted into an elegant French knot on the top of her head, breathtaking to any male who dared to look upon her. Lily put her hands on her hips and sighed in malcontent.

"I kind of want to change my hair color for tonight to suit the whole 'masquerade' thing," Lily said as she got close to her reflection to inspect a strand of red hair that she had set into dazzling curls for the occasion. "Yeah, I think I will."

"Whatever you want, Lily," Anne said with indifference as she curled her eyelashes with the tip of her wand. "Let's hope we don't end up dancing with masked Slytherin boys, shall we? That's worse than having red hair, for sure."

Lily drew her wand and pointed it at her head, ignoring the comment that Anne had so casually thrown out with determination.

"What color, Anne? Black or Blonde?"

Anne looked at her friend and bit her polished lip. "Black," she said simply with a nod of her head. "It graces your beautiful eyes." Anne accompanied the word beautiful with the batting of her eyelashes in a mocking manner. Lily laughed.

"Black it is, then," she said, and stuck her tongue out in concentration as she nonverbally cast the charm. Her hair color instantly changed to black. She eyed her reflection for a moment before nodding in approval. "That's better," she said. "Not for a permanent change, maybe, but my red hair sticks out like a sore thumb. This is better than any mask. Let's go, Anne."

"Oh alright Lily, keep your shoes on," Anne replied grumpily as she abandoned her primping session.

Lily grabbed her black and Anne's white masks, which came down to their noses, and headed for the door.

-

"This mask looks atrocious."

"Well, at least it hides your nose nicely, Snape."

"How would you like this mask up your arse, Malfoy?"

"Geez, Mr. Sensitive, fine. See you there."

When the door closed, Severus put the mask reluctantly back on his face and stared at his reflection.

_It could be worse_, he thought as he straightened his black dress robes, _at least these robes are masculine. There could be frills and things, and Malfoy's right – my nose doesn't look so big under this mask. And,_ he added with a smirk, _I grew Pettigrew's head twice the normal size today for being a twit, so today hasn't been a complete waste._

Feeling slightly happier with himself, he tucked his wand into his belt and left for the Great Hall.

Upon entering, Severus was pleased to see that there was little to no glitter, which he had been afraid of encountering after seeing the memo for the ball. Everything, including the small, round tables, was draped in black and an orchestra was playing some sort of classical music up where the teacher's table once stood. He looked around for any sign of a certain female redhead, but he was disappointed. He sighed and sat down at the nearest table and tried to look like a gentleman. In his normal attire, he was as self-conscious as any other person his age. Underneath this mask, however, and these nice clothes, he was feeling very confident. He had taken time to make sure that his hair was clean (which was usually a losing battle) and he had trimmed it so that it was just longer than his shoulders, and neat. Then he had tied it back into a low ponytail to further make himself unknown to other people.

Severus looked up from his table and saw someone that he didn't know, but she was so beautiful that he could hardly take his eyes off her. She was donned in a flattering green dress and her hair was a shiny black that fell in curls down her shoulders. She seemed to be friends with the Gryffindor clan, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her before. He stood up and grabbed a drink to keep him company, for he had a feeling that this night was going to be a long one. Occasionally he would see somebody he recognized, such as the conspicuous James Potter and her girlfriend, whatever her name was.

It was nearing midnight now, and still he hadn't seen Lily at all. He wondered where she was, and if she was ever going to show – he doubted it sincerely. A pretty girl he hadn't recognized had approached him and asked him to dance, but he had declined before he'd even thought about it, and the girl had run off again with her friends.

He was, however, finding himself increasingly attracted to the woman he didn't know with the dark hair. He had seen her dancing the Twist and laughing with James Potter at one point and he couldn't quite place her, though he had admittedly felt a surge of jealousy course through him. He couldn't help but admire the way she held herself and the way her dress hugged her full curves in all the right places. In fact, like a magnet, he unconsciously rose and began to approach her. He knew that he wouldn't have done it if he hadn't had the cover behind the mask, but he did have the mask and he was feeling quite bold. Adrenaline began to pump through his veins at the prospect of asking somebody to dance. He stopped in front of her, and she and her friends looked up at him with scanning looks. Several of them giggled and nudged one another. One of them whispered something to her friend.

"Hello," Severus said, making sure that his voice was slightly lower than usual so that he would not be discovered. He personally thought that he sounded quite dignified.

Several of the Gryffindor girls began whispering to and nudging each other again. The mystery woman gave her friends a severe look before turning back to Severus.

"Hi," she said, brushing away a black ringlet and looking slightly taken aback, "Can I help you?" Clearly she was hiding her voice as well, for it was lower than most girls'.

"Only if you would be interested in a dance," he replied, and one of the girls let out a small shriek of excitement; they all scampered away except for the mystery woman and he desperately wanted to hex them for their nerve.

He placed a hand on her waist and took up her hand in his. His heart was hammering in his chest, for he was messing about in uncharted, possibly deep waters. He told himself to be careful, lest he drown. The woman smiled slightly and placed her free hand on his shoulder. Severus was idly aware of some sort of classical music playing in the background, but he didn't take much notice.

"Ready?" he asked, and when she nodded, began to lead a dance.

Now, Severus had never danced before, but he found that it was not all that difficult. After a few moments of awkwardness, they were dancing with the rest of the couples in masks, and Severus was glad to say that he never once trod on her foot. What was bothering him this whole time was that he still didn't know who the woman was. Severus wondered who she was, where she was from, what house she was in, how he didn't notice her before (as if he could miss her) and why, _why_ was her God damn dress so low in the front? He focused his eyes on other, less dangerous things, and eventually on her eyes. They talked as they danced, mixed with the other couples and doing a sort of waltz.

"So, what house are you in?" She asked casually, throwing the question into the open as if she didn't really care.

_Ah,_ Severus thought, _so she doesn't know who I am._

"The best of them, of course," He replied dryly.

"Feeling secretive, are you?" The mystery woman said. "Everyone thinks their house is best!"

"This whole thing is very secretive, no?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

He suddenly stopped dancing and stared down at her. Couples merely danced around them in their many colors as if Severus and the woman were not even there. He took his hand away from hers and placed it on her waist and she put her free arm around his neck. As they stared into each other's eyes, he felt bothered. It was as if the answer was staring him in the face (which it was). And he could have sworn he knew those eyes from somewhere, as if they'd stared at him from across a room or in a crowded place. And her scent, too; the familiarity of it was driving him crazy, the combination of cinnamon and vanilla making his mind pleasantly fuzzy.

"Who are you?" he asked in a quiet, demanding voice, puzzled by the emotions that he was feeling.

"I'd ask the same question, but I have a feeling I'll get the same answer as before," the woman replied.

He continued to stare as he asked, "Have you ever kissed someone before, or been kissed?"

She laughed wholeheartedly and he was once again struck by the familiarity of the sound.

"You mean besides by my dear mother? No."

"Never a romantic kiss from a presumed stranger in a masquerade ball, surrounded by peers?"

She looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment and looked away, then back up at him. He was startled by the brightness of her green eyes, and once more felt that the answer was in front of him, yet he was not smart enough to put a finger on it.

"No, I can't say I have."

Severus took his hand from her waist and gently touched her bottom lip with his thumb, marveling at her supple smallness. He cradled her neck in his hand and kissed her his first kiss and her first kiss. And he didn't even know who she was. And the entire time, his brain was admonishing him and his heart was egging him on. He pulled away and she looked upon him, thunderstruck.

"You just kissed me!" she said, and he scoffed.

"Yeah, well you weren't exactly protesting, princess," he said sarcastically.

"You git!"

"Well, I never said I was Romeo, did I?"

The beautiful woman opened her mouth to reply, but her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You've read Romeo and Juliet?"

"Yes, of course I have."

She paused then looked up at him suspiciously. He almost cringed under her stare.

"You're not Remus, are you? Because if you are, I swear I'll…" she began, but stopped once she saw him glaring at her. "Well, I always thought Shakespeare was a Muggle thing, and Remus is the only wizard I've met who's read it. I just thought –"

He dropped his head down an inch or so closer to hers and she looked pointedly up at him through her face mask, her green eyes sparkling.

"Well maybe you think too much."

He moved in closer and, to his utmost surprise, so did she. Severus was suddenly aware just how close their bodies were, just how close their faces were… He could have sworn he'd smelled her perfume before… he was enticed by everything about her… where had he seen those _eyes_?

"…Have you ever been in love?"

Just before their lips touched again, he murmured in an undertone, "Ask me again in two minutes."

They broke apart moments later and she grabbed him by the hand. She pulled him outside and into the yard. Severus blinked twice to clear his vision, for he had walked into what he presumed was the land of pink fairy lights. He stifled a groan and the urge to hit himself in the forehead with exasperation. Everything was pink and white in contrast to the black and white inside, and actual fairies hovered and fluttered a few inches above the assorted flowers. Large bushes had been grown around everywhere, and benches and fountains sat randomly in secluded areas of the walk. The mystery woman pulled Severus through a bush of roses, which pulled at his robes uncomfortably, checked to see that they were alone, and then sat down on the edge of a fountain. She pulled her wand out and pointed it at her head, and her hair changed to dark red. Severus gasped slightly. Now he understood why he'd felt like he'd met her somewhere before. How could he have misplaced her eyes? She pulled her mask off her face and sealed his fate without a word.

"I'm Lily Evans," she said quietly.

"I know," replied Severus numbly.

"Who are you?" she asked now, puzzled.

Severus groaned and hit himself in the forehead in frustration. Now that he was alone with her and possibly about to be unmasked, his boldness level and adrenaline rush diminished to zero. He got up and turned to walk away, possibly to another planet, when she grabbed his sleeve. He spun around to see her standing up, her hair beginning to go back to its natural state; her curls had begun to go limp and it gave her a desperate look.

"Wait!" she exclaimed urgently. "You're not going to kiss me and then leave without telling me who you are, as if nothing ever happened!"

Severus stepped back and shook his head sadly.

"No," he said. "Now that I know who you are, I can't tell you who I am. Someone like you wouldn't want to be with a… a git like me."

Lily's eyes widened and she strode up to Severus and pulled his mask off with a snap. As the mask slowly fell to the ground, she gasped in shock. Severus winced as her fingertips found her temples and she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"This can't be right!" she exclaimed to herself and to Severus. "You were never supposed to… I mean, I fancied you, yes, but I was never planning on saying anything about it…" She groaned and finished lamely, "We're from feuding houses, different lives. It wouldn't work."

Severus stood still in half astonishment and half confusion. His brain seemed to be working on overdrive. If she'd meant half the things she'd just said, then…

"You mean you would?" he asked, surprised into speaking.

She looked up from her feet, startled, as if she had just realized he was there.

"I would what?" asked Lily, taken aback at the lack of harshness in his voice.

"Be with me," Severus replied, "Me, of all people. The geeky, greasy, evil git. Do you require medical attention? Would you like an escort to the Hospital Wing?"

Lily looked up at him again and said, "You have no idea what I would give… but it wouldn't work. What would people think?" her voice turned suddenly stern as she snapped, "And did you honestly believe that you could just kiss someone and forget about them? What were you thinking before you kissed me? I'm a bloody female; we don't like being ditched for no reason!"

Severus looked and the ground now and at his polished shoes.

"I wasn't thinking; I was too wrapped up in the heat of the moment," he said, and then looked at Lily with his brows furrowed. "And since when do you care what others think of you?

Lily looked away and sat down again on the edge of the fountain.

"Snape, my friends represent everything that Slytherin isn't. Everything they hate is in Slytherin. If people saw you and me – If James saw, what would he say?"

Severus bent over and picked his mask up off the ground. He straightened up and held the mask out in his hand.

"What if," he said slowly, holding up the mask to represent his symbolism, "what if they didn't know? What if we hit it behind, say, a mask?"

"You mean," Lily replied, taking the mask from him with a searing, thoughtful look in her eyes and on her face, "the night? Dark?"

Severus felt a slight grin spreading across his face. "Nobody would know."

"Brilliant!" Lily said, standing up again and striding over to him. "Brilliant! We can keep it a secret for now, and then get the houses to bond and get along. Then, we reveal!"

Severus raised a doubtful brow.

"I don't think that will work," he said warningly, "You don't know Lucius like I do. He's a proud guy."

Lily was pacing back and fourth now, her black high-heels making a clip-clop sound on the cobblestones. She appeared thoughtful and Severus wondered if she'd heard a word he'd just said.

"Yes," she said at long last. "Yes, it will work. Remus will help, too, I know he will."

At that point, the clock began to toll midnight. Both of them jumped, and then stood in an awkward silence for a moment.

"We've gotta go," she said, and then threw her arms around Severus' neck in an embrace.

He stumbled first, and then returned the hug awkwardly, as he had never hugged anybody, never mind a girl, before. She went to leave, and then turned back, strode up to him, and kissed him swiftly. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle uncomfortably.

"You're not evil, by the way," she said smartly, "And not half as greasy as usual – not that I mind, of course. Goodnight!"

"Bye," Severus replied, slightly dumbstruck, as Lily climbed back through the bushes. He was unable to believe his luck. When Lily had disappeared he turned his face towards the sky and gazed at the stars. "Star-crossed lovers," he muttered under his breath. "Who would have thought?"

-

Severus pushed open the door to the dorm to see Lucius dressing into his pajamas. Lucius looked up at his friend suspiciously, a punch-drunk smile on his face.

"You look like you've had the time of your life," Lucius observed quietly, for Rosier, Wilkes, Lestrange and Avery were all sleeping.

"Do I?" Severus replied vaguely, changing into his sleeping apparel.

"Yes, you do," Lucius said. "Who's the lucky woman, Severus?"

"What woman?" Severus replied as he climbed into bed and closed the hangings around his four-poster so that his smirk would not give him away.

Lucius made a doubtful "mhmm" noise as Severus closed his hangings.

"Fine, keep your secrets."

"Alright, I will. Goodnight!"

* * *

A/N: Okay, so there's chapter one. Thanks to WriterArtist for being my groovy beta and putting up with a ship she doesn't like!


	2. Snog You Senseless

A/N: Lily/Snape fans unite, if only for fan fiction!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Two - Snog You Senseless

The next week, they had still not met, neither secretly nor openly. In fact, they didn't speak at all until the next study, and even then they didn't speak, per se. Studies were places where 7th years could meet and study quietly and be assisted by professors that patrolled the area, in contrast to being cooped up in the Common Room. Lily was sitting at the end of one of the long tables, and Severus was a few chairs down on the opposite side of the table. She scribbled something on a piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball, checked that no teachers were watching, and threw it. It hit Severus squarely in the forehead and he caught the ball when it bounced off. Several people sniggered, for it merely looked as if Lily had been throwing stuff at Severus for no good reason, which was not uncommon for other people to do. James gave an appreciative chuckle from next to Lily and went on studying for his Defense Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T. But Severus knew better. He un-crumpled the paper and read it.

_Beech Tree. 12_

Severus nodded to her without looking up from the paper and pocketed the note. Lily's heart felt slightly aflutter partly because of him and partly because she was doing something, well, had it been with a different person, James would be proud. Sneaking about at night was dangerous in its own right, never mind with a Slytherin. Lily touched her chin thoughtfully and thought of James; he could help her cause without knowing what her cause was. She chanced a sidelong glance at him and decided that she would take action later.

Later she went to see James. He was sitting by the fire with his friends, studying for exams yet again. She walked up to him and stood in front of him, looking innocent. He raised his eyebrows at her and she noticed that he looked slightly distraught.

"How are you?" Lily asked perturbed by the look on his face.

He sighed and closed his book. Other people in the room watched curiously from behind books and papers. Sirius looked on shamelessly while he and Peter munched on cockroach clusters from Hogsmeade.

"Fine," He replied half-heartedly. "I just…well… Nicole and I broke up today."

She bit her lip and felt her heart fall. How could she ask him for help now, when he was in distress? The prospect made her conscience feel a little uneasy.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Could I help you in any way?"

James shook his head.

"Naw. Well, what do you need?" he changed the subject and Lily raised an eyebrow.

Lily shifted on her feet and her hands clasped convulsively in front of her. Yes, she had pondered the best way to ask, and she had decided that a straightforward request would be the best way to get what she wanted in this case.

"Could I borrow your invisibility cloak?"

"Why do you need it?"

"I need to be invisible."

James gazed at her as if he wanted to ask more, but realized that he was not going to get a straightforward answer because Lily was obviously being purposefully secretive. He got up and ran up the stairs, then came back holding the cloak a minute later. Lily hugged James, her heart now light with relief. He looked down at her with concern and mingled suspicion.

"Snape's been acting suspicious lately towards you," James commented with seriousness. "Watching you and stuff. Is everything all right, or do I need to hex him?"

"Uhh…" Lily said, feeling her face burn red, "nothing's going on, you're probably just imagining things."

Lying was particularly hard for Lily and had always been. In truth, Severus _had_ been watching her more and more in the time since they'd had their masquerade encounter, and with good reason. James seemed to have bought her story, however, or at least he figured that she would tell him the truth in good time, because he didn't continue on that particular subject. Instead, he brought up a new, though equally related subject.

"Who was that guy you were with at the dance? I saw you snogging."

Lily thought fast. "I don't know, he disappeared before I could learn his name."

James gave her a sympathetic look. "Wish I could help," he said softly.

Lily held up the silvery cloak in her hand and smirked at the slightly befuddled James.

"You are, trust me."

-

Lily finished her work and went to bed early that night. Her stopwatch went off at ten till midnight, waking everyone in the dormitory. Luck seemed to be on Lily's side that night, though, for they all passed out again before any questions could be asked. Lily waited a minute to make sure everyone was asleep before getting out of bed, snatching up the cloak and leaving for the beech tree.

Severus was standing there by the beech tree just as Lily had instructed, squinting into the darkness for any sign of her approach. Lily grinned under the cloak; since she was invisible, why not have a bit of fun before he figured out what was going on? As quietly as she could, she crept up and poked him hard in the back of the head with an invisible finger. He jumped and spun around, looking for the person who had poked him. He knew not to light his wand, so he merely looked about into the semi-darkness like a blind man.

"Sevvy…" she said in her best attempt at a haunting voice, "I seee youuu…"

At this, he rolled his eyes.

"All right Evans, you're the only one with the guts to call me 'Sevvy'. I know you're here, but how are you doing it?" Severus said, becoming curious. He waved a hand blindly through the air as if trying to catch her.

Lily dropped the cloak around her neck so her head appeared to be floating by itself. Severus stared for a moment with his mouth slightly agape, obviously taken aback, and then reached out his hand again. He groped in the air for a moment before snagging the cloak and pulling it off. It slid to the ground like quicksilver, leaving Lily to stand in her comfortable black trousers and uniform shirt, feeling slightly foolish. Severus bent over and picked the cloak up, and marveled at its fluidity and lightness – not to mention how it made the user invisible.

"Where did you get this?" Severus asked in awe, swinging it over his shoulders and disappearing from view.

"James," Lily replied casually, reaching out and grabbing it back. "It's dead useful to be his friend."

Severus merely grumbled in reply and wiped his arms with his hands as if wearing James' cloak had contaminated him in some way. The two of them strolled along by the lake, talking about their lives and their plans to unite the houses. Lily spoke of her family and her terrible sister.

"…And she acts like I don't exist sometimes," Lily explained, "like she doesn't have a sister. It kind of makes me sad, actually. She's terrible, but family's family."

Severus grunted and moodily kicked a bottle into the lake. Lily watched him apprehensively.

"You alright, Sev?"

"Don't call me that," he grumbled quietly. Lily smirked. He asked, "What's it like to have siblings?"

Lily shrugged as they strolled on.

"It used to be alright – fun, even. Before I got my letter and she didn't, that is. We used to play and get along. Why? You don't have siblings?"

Severus shook his head.

"No. After I was born, my parents stopped getting along. They tried desperately to save their marriage, but nothing could be done," He said in a bitter voice. "Needless to say, they weren't interested in any more children, especially if they ended up like me."

Lily bumped her shoulder against his and laughed.

"You're really not that bad," she said, "You just have a temper, and you're too proud."

"A trait inherited from my dear father," Severus said with a false sweetness.

There was a pause, in which Lily wanted to change the subject.

"Well, at least your family isn't names after flowers. Lily and Petunia," Lily said, rolling her eyes in exasperation, "my parents thought it was cute." When she got no reply she tried a new approach. "So…" she started, "When are we going to tell everyone about this?"

"Tell? We don't need to tell them anything," Severus said in reply. "It's not their business who we date or what we do. It shouldn't matter."

"But it _does_ matter," Lily insisted. "It does matter. People are so prejudiced that it's dangerous. You'd be considered a blood traitor, probably."

Severus cringed and stopped walking, his eyes glued to a tuft of grass that he was squashing with his foot.

"It wouldn't be so bad, being called a blood traitor," he said quietly, "considering that I'm not even a pureblood."

Lily's jaw dropped and she stared. Could it be? Severus Snape, the one who had a pureblood ego to match Lucius Malfoy's? It didn't seem possible.

"I thought only purebloods could get into Slytherin," Lily said in disbelief, almost startled by this information.

Severus shrugged.

"There aren't enough," he muttered, "Besides, I had the other qualifications. Ambition, a hunger for power. Intelligence. It was all there."

Lily faked an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Well, my plans to take over the world have officially been ruined, thank you very much. I needed to have a little army of three-quarter-bloods in my midst and, seeing as you're not a pureblood, it won't work."

Severus glared sidelong at her and she laughed, then sighed as her smile faded.

"I wish you had been put into Ravenclaw," Lily said, "Things would have been so different."

"It wouldn't have worked," Severus replied, "That's like the top student getting put into Gryffindor. It's not possible."

"Are you saying I'm not intelligent?"  
Severus glared at Lily.

"Don't be thick," he said, "I'm saying that Gryffindor is prided on their courage, not their intelligence."

"Ahh…" Lily replied, her eyes drifting over to the lake. "So, what do you do for fun?"

"Fun?" He repeated dully. "What do you mean, _fun_?"

"You know… fun." Lily replied, not knowing how to explain 'fun'. "Like, doing something you enjoy…?"

"I know what fun is!" Severus snapped, "I'm just not an incredibly fun guy, in case you haven't noticed. My greatest fun is catching Potter off guard and alone. Now _that's_ fun."

Lily scowled, and Severus knew it was because she hated it when he and James fought. Her look of disapproval was quickly replaced, however, by a sly grin that spread over her face.

"Would you like to have fun?" she asked, "Right now?"

Severus raised his brows at the redhead.

"What are you implying, Evans?"

"This," she replied simply.

Lily emptied her pockets and placed her belongings in a pile with James' cloak. Then she kicked off her shoes, ran forward past Severus, and dove into the freezing lake. She resurfaced, grinning madly and shivering.

"Come on in!" Lily yelled to Severus. "The water's terrible!"

"No!" he yelled back,. "You'll be frozen! Or you'll get sick; I'm telling you right now!"

Lily waded in a bit and placed her numb hands on her hips.

"What? Can't you swim?"

"Of course I can!"

"Are you scared?"

"No!"

"Then come in, you coward!"

Lily found that she had struck the nerve she had been looking for when Severus' eyes flashed dangerously. He pulled his winter cloak and shoes off, ran into the water, and picked Lily up. She screamed in protest and he threw her into deeper water with a grunt. She came back up and swam to where he was standing, looking proud of his handiwork, and pushed his head under the water. While she held his head down with one hand, she jumped upon his shoulders with one leg on either side of his neck. He stood up and held onto her ankles so that she wouldn't fall, and then spun around in a fast circle. She gave a yelp and a laugh and both fell backwards, and then re-emerged from the water, dripping and shaking. Severus shook his head, spraying water all around. Lily spit out a spout of water at him.

"Was there any point to that?" he asked with bated breath, though amusement was evident on his face.

"Not really, I was just having fun," Lily replied as they waded into shore.

Upon exiting the water, they realized just how cold March weather can be. Their breaths rose in shimmering bursts of icy fog, and Lily's hair began to freeze in place around her face. Severus wrapped his arms around himself after putting all of his belongings back on and eyed Lily warily, for she had no cloak other than James' to keep her warm, and James' cloak was not much of an insulator. Lily was shivering uncontrollably, shaking her frozen hair away from her face, and Severus felt a guilty pang in his chest. He beckoned her forward with one hand.

"Come here," he commanded with the slightest exasperation in his voice.

Lily obeyed and Severus pulled her closer to him, wrapping his cloak around her so that they were both covered. She wrapped her arms around his upper torso and held him tight, still shivering madly. As they stood there together, he could feel her wild heartbeat through her chest and it gave him the chills. He let a small laugh escape from his mouth.

"What?" she asked, opening one eye suspiciously.

"I just remembered," Severus said slowly, his teeth chattering, "That I know a drying and warming charm."

Lily squeezed him tight and rested the side of her face against his chest in pure comforted contentedness, still trembling even with his shared body heat.

"What's your point?"

A smile twitched in the corners of his mouth and he sighed, resting his chin upon the top of her head.

"Never mind."

-

When the sun rose up over the castle grounds and Lily awoke in her warm, comfortable bed, she vaguely wondered if last night (well, morning technically) had been a dream.

_Man,_ she thought to herself as she hugged her blanket around her, _that had been such a good dream._

Lily rolled over with the intention of going back into dreamland when she felt something round and hard. She opened her eyes and found that her blanket was not actually a blanket, but a cloak. Puzzled, she reached into the pocket and withdrew the small, round object that had originally caught her attention. It was Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. She furrowed her brows, unable to recall ever buying gum, for she had no money to spend on sweets. Her eyes grew wide and she looked for the tag on the cloak. Written on the tag were the initials _S.S._ Lily couldn't help but smile, for her dream had been reality after all.

_Ah yes,_ she thought. _Yes, I remember now_.

After their meeting, Severus had given Lily his cloak, for she had been quivering with cold. She had given him her green hair tie because he had been complaining about how his hair was wet. They must have been suffering from early morning tiredness, she mused, because they both knew a drying and warming charm. Lily wondered now if Severus would have the same reaction that she had had upon waking. After they had parted, she had scampered up to Gryffindor Tower. The Portrait of the Fat Lady had asked where she had been (for she was still slightly damp) and Lily had replied, "I fancied a bath." Head Girl had after-hour privileges, after all.

In some respects, this had not been a lie because she had indeed had a bath, just in a lake and with a… friend. Of sorts.

Lily stuck her head out of the hangings of her four-poster to see that everyone had gone down to breakfast already and that she had overslept. She pulled the cloak on over her slightly wrinkled clothes from yesterday and headed down to the Hall in search of a certain tall, pale, Slytherin bloke. He wasn't in the Hall yet, and Lily assumed he hadn't gotten up early, so she sat down between Sirius and James at the Gryffindor table. James was reading the Daily Prophet and took no notice of Lily because of it, but Sirius gave her a searching look as she sat down.

"You look tired," he commented.

"I didn't sleep so brilliantly last night," replied Lily, piling bacon onto her plate.

"Care to share?" He asked curiously, eyeing Severus' cloak with suspicion.

The cloak was not unlike hers, but it was very much bigger, for Severus was far taller than she. In fact, Lily had rolled up her sleeves about a dozen times in order to for to eat her breakfast. If she hadn't done this, the cloak would have been over her hands. Of course, there was not way for Sirius to tell off the bat to whom the cloak belonged.

"Not really, but thanks for asking," Lily replied, plunging into her bacon with gusto.

Sirius said nothing else, but helped himself to some of her bacon. Lily looked up from her plate to see Severus walking into the Great Hall, looking slightly confused and very groggy. His eyes found Lily in the crowd and as he started slowly towards her, he gave her look that unmistakably said "get over here". Clearly he didn't want to approach the Gryffindor table, and with good reason. Lily leapt up as if she had been sitting on coals and strode swiftly to Severus. She stepped in front of him and saw that he was actually smiling slightly.

"Nice cloak," he said in a somewhat mocking tone, his eyes sweeping across her body a little less than innocently. "Looks good on you."

Lily looked down and saw that the cloak was so long that it was almost touching the ground. She laughed and pulled off the cloak ("Take it off, Evans!" yelled a nearby brazen Hufflepuff) and then handed it to Severus with a smirk. He took the cloak from her and then held out her green elastic hair tie. Lily turned around for a moment and saw that James was heading over to them at a rather quick pace. She turned back to Severus, who looked suddenly aggressive, tried not to panic.

"Don't start," she warned him in an undertone.

He arched a brow at her in reply.

"I found your cloak in the dungeons," Lily said casually, but loud enough for James to hear, "And I thought you might want it back."

"Thank you," he said coolly. "I thought this elastic would match your _horrible_ eyes, so you can have it as a token of my… _dislike_."

At that point, James had arrived at Lily's said and was ready to intervene. He drew his wand and opened his mouth, but Lily grabbed James' wrist with surprising strength and he dropped his wand in surprise.

"Hello Snape," James said coolly, trying not to look at Lily as she nonverbally summoned his wand. "Have you got something to say to Lily?"

Severus only sneered and replied, "Of course not. I want nothing to do with _her_. She's all yours, Potter."

Before James could say something to defend himself, Severus had taken Lily's hand, shaken it, and nodded to Lily before turning and walking off.

"Until next time, Mudblood," Severus called over his shoulder in what anyone other than Lily would think to be an insulting tone.

James went for his wand to hex Severus for calling Lily such an offensive name, but Lily pulled her hand, the one holding the wands, out of his reach. She smiled as Severus was walking away.

"Wash your hair, Snivellus!" She shouted to him, "You look like you've been swimming in that disgusting lake!"

When the rest of Severus' billowing cloak had disappeared, James turned to Lily and gestured towards the hand that Severus had touched.

"What was that all about?" James asked. "Do you want me to get you some soap for that?" He gestured to her hand. "I know a cleansing charm."

Lily pocketed the hand in question and rolled her eyes.

"Honestly James, you don't think I can take care of myself," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice that James did not quite understand. "It was nothing I can't handle."

James stared at her with apprehension, as if he knew that she was hiding something. Lily stared back just as hard as he, and she knew she would have to act carefully around James from now on, lest she expose her secret relationship.

"I've got to go to the dormitory and change out of these clothes," Lily said, backing away. "I was so tired last night that I fell asleep wearing them."

Lily turned on her heel and left without finishing her breakfast. Remus was in the common room when she entered, getting some reading in. An idea popped into Lily's head and she started over to him. She took a seat next to him and he looked up at her for a moment. He nodded once in acknowledgement and went back to his reading. Lily, however, had other ideas. She gently took the book from his hands and (much to his dismay, for he had not doggy-eared the page) closed it. Remus turned to her.

"You have my attention now," he said somewhat darkly.

"I need your help," Lily pleaded quietly. "You see, at the ball – I"

Remus cut her off. "Am I about to find out who the guy you were snogging is?"

Lily gaped.

"How many people saw that?"

Remus smiled his rare wry smile.

"You weren't exactly hiding it, Lily," he said with a chuckle. "Besides, judging by the way you snuck out last night in desperation to meet him in secret, I think I have a good idea of who it was. You don't have to hide it from me, Juliet."

Lily dropped the book in horror and Remus scooped it up quickly.

"What? You saw us!" she said, horrified. "Did anyone else? Did James?"

Remus shook his head and opened the book again in a quest to find his lost page.

"No," he said, "They were all sleeping. I woke up from a – a, well, I wasn't sleeping too well and I needed a glass of water. The jug is by the window and the window overlooks the lake."

Lily closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, glad that only Remus had seen them. Remus often awoke in the dead of night from terrible nightmares about his lycanthropy. Lily had known about Remus' wolfish condition this whole year. After all, she often hung out with the Marauders and knew pretty much more or less everything that went on with them. Lily clasped her hands in her lap and continued on with her initial problem.

"So, will you help us?"

Remus sighed. "What do you need?"

"I need someone to relay messages, first and foremost," Lily said, reverting to a business-like manner. "James is becoming suspicious and I can't let him know right yet. He'd be so upset! I can't talk to… you know, _him_ anymore while James is on the prowl, not without drawing attention to myself anyway. I need to project the image of indifference to _him_ that I have always done. But _you_ can talk to him, Remus. And then you could just kind of help me get out of tight spots, you know? Please, Remus! I'm _begging_ you!"

Remus stared at her and found that he just couldn't say no. She was, after all, a good friend and was always willing to help him out of tight spots. In fact, she had done so on multiple occasions. Remus nodded and Lily let out a breath of air. She leapt across the seat and hugged him, knocking him back into his chair.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She said in one breath.

"No problem," Remus replied, and went back to his studying. He sincerely hoped that he hadn't just made a huge mistake.

-

The next day, after much planning and sending Remus back and fourth in secret between Lily and Severus, they had a plan. Severus didn't like Remus at all, but he would refrain from violence of Lily's account and cooperate with him. Only, there was one little problem.

On the morning of the meeting, Lily awoke with the flu. In fact, she didn't wake up with the flu – the flu woke up with her. Lily groaned and rolled out of bed. The others, minus Anne, had already left for breakfast. Anne sat up in bed with a concerned look, her curlers slightly askew on her head.

"You alright, Lily?"

Lily went to nod, but clapped a hand to her mouth and shook her head 'no'.

"Uh huh – no. _Nuh uh_!"

Lily jumped up and sprinted into the loo with Anne at her heels. Lily slid onto her knees in front of the toilet just in time, for she threw up just as she got there. Anne, looking revolted, shouted that she would go get some help and be right back. Overcome with exhaustion, Lily flushed the toilet, fell backwards and grimaced at the terrible taste in her mouth. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, too tired to move, and waited. Soon enough, she heard footsteps coming and Anne ran back into the loo, closely followed by McGonagall. McGonagall took one look at Lily, then rushed forward and placed a hand on Lily's forehead.

"Yes, you're burning up," McGonagall said briskly. "Miss Hart, if you would be so kind as to escort Miss Evans to the infirmary?"

Anne nodded and stepped forward. Together, McGonagall and Anne managed to put one of Lily's arms around each of their necks and half walk, half haul Lily down to the Madam Pomfrey's ward. The matron was standing there with none other than Severus, who shot a glare in the direction of Lily, Anne and McGonagall as the interesting trio entered. Severus already looked slightly agitated, as Madam Pomfrey was giving him rapid orders.

"Just give this to Malfoy and tell him he'd better drink it to get rid of his herpi – oh, hello Professor," Madam Pomfrey was saying as she handed Severus a steaming mug. "What's this? Get going, Snape, why are you still standing here?"

Severus did not so much as glance at Lily as he was walking out towards the door.

"A fever is it? Well there's only so much I can do for it," began the Matron as Severus reached for the door handle and disappeared with the mug; Lily could have sworn that she saw him smirk to himself in a self-satisfied way, but she was too groggy to be sure.

"She's burning up, Poppy," McGonagall said curtly. "Already been retching, isn't that right, Miss Hart?"

Anne nodded, curlers bouncing, and the matron began messing about in her cupboards, mixing a remedy. Madam Pomfrey turned back to Lily and forced her into a chair.

"Drink," She ordered, stirring the remedy with a drink mixer. "This is the best I can do. Your temperature will go down, but you can only rest."

Madam Pomfrey handed Lily the cup, but her hands were shaking so badly that the Matron had to hold the cup and tip Lily's chin back so she could drink. The liquid tasted like rotten eggs and made Lily gag, but she could feel the strength coming back into her fingertips and legs as she drank. She struggled to stand, but the Matron forced her back down.

"You will stay here until I give you leave!" Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "Pick a bed and lie down until I say otherwise."

Lily nodded and Anne led her to the nearest bed. After making sure that Lily was all right, Anne and McGonagall left the infirmary.

"I'll come back later," Anne promised, "after breakfast." She laughed slightly and touched the curlers on top of her head before adding, "and after I fix _this_ mess."

With that last word, they all left Lily to her rest. She closed her eyes and fell asleep almost at once. When Lily woke up the sun was high in the sky and Anne was sitting in a chair beside her bed, grinning uncontrollably. Lily sat up slowly, feeling slightly achy from the potion. It was at times like these that she wondered whether taking care of illnesses the Muggle way was better.

"What?" Lily asked her friend slowly, rubbing her eyes.

Anne pointed to Lily's bedside table, where a single lily sat in a vase on top of a folded piece of parchment.

"An owl flew in here with it; nearly gave Pomfrey a heart attack," Anne said with glee as Lily reached out for the flower.

Lily picked the flower out of its water and sniffed it. She smiled and placed the lily back in its vase, and then picked up the vase and took the note. Anne seemed to be on the edge of her seat with excitement. With trembling fingers and a fluttering heart, Lily opened the note and read:

_I told you so._

_-Your secret admirer _

Lily smiled knowingly as she stared at the note, which was written in an untidy scrawl. Of course, only one person had told her that she would be sick in the last few days, and that person was most definitely her secret admirer. In fact, Lily couldn't help but be impressed at the sheer brilliance of the signing. It would appear to anyone (except for Remus) that Lily was receiving this little note and flower from someone who admired her from afar. But that was not the case, as Lily knew; her admirer was not anonymous, but admired her in secret from the watchful eyes of James Potter and Lucius Malfoy. Lily looked up from the note to see that Anne was still grinning so that every one of her perfect white teeth were showing.

"Who do you think it's from?" Anne asked excitedly.

Lily shrugged, a smile still playing on her lips.

"Who knows? It could be anybody," Lily replied. It was not a lie, exactly, as it could have been from anybody.

"But the note said he told you so!" Anne insisted.

Lily laughed and tried to think of a cover-up as she did so. She paused to wipe a tear of mirth from the corner of her eye.

"Everyone tells me that!" Lily replied. "The way I walk around without a winter cloak, even the way I don't like to wear leggings – I mean, I pretty much had it coming, didn't I? And half the time they're not even talking about me getting sick anyway. 'I told you so' is a pretty common thing to say, isn't it?"

Anne sighed and sat back in her chair, looking puzzled.

"Damn," she said. "I was really hoping to find out who it was."

Lily sighed inwardly; she hated keeping things from her friends more than she hated being sick. And then, of course, the plans that Severus, Remus and Lily had spent a while scheming would have to be put on hold for the time being.

Remus stopped by with James, Sirius and Peter and when they were leaving, Lily pretended that she needed to ask him an Arithmacy question and that the he could catch up with his friends in a minute. Then she told him that the plan would go through tomorrow night, and Remus agreed to relay the message. Lily could tell that he was regretting his decision to help, but he helped nevertheless and for that, Lily was grateful.

-

The following morning, Lily was permitted to leave the infirmary and go to breakfast. Lily happily skipped down to breakfast, glad at the prospect of eating solid foods again. She sat down at the Gryffindor table between Sirius and James like she always did and began eating merrily. James watched her with a smile on his face. For some reason he looked genuinely thrilled to have him next to her.

"You act like you haven't eaten in years," James commented, rumpling the back of his hair with uncertainty.

Without taking her eyes off her plate, she replied, "It _feels_ like I haven't eaten in years, James. Being sick is no fiesta."

James opened his mouth to say something else, but one of the school owls landed in front of him. He reached out and took the envelope from the owl and fed it a kipper. James' eyes scanned the front and then he handed the letter to Lily.

"It's for you," he said bluntly before pouring himself some pumpkin juice.

Lily recognized the writing on the front of the envelope at once to be that of Severus and she tore open the letter. It was short and looked as if it had been quickly written.

_At 12 cast _Muffliato_ on the people in your dorm and go to the window. I'll be waiting._

There was not signature at all, but Lily got the point right away. She supposed that _Muffliato_ must be some sort of spell because she'd never heard of it before.

"Petunia's ill again," she said in a bored tone, as if she had just read a letter from her family.

Nobody said anything, but kept eating. The idea of house unity popped into her head then and she set her fork down. Lily poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and sipped it, wondering how she would bring the subject about.

"Have you ever thought of house unity?"

At once, voices from all over the table answered, "No."

Lily sighed and Sirius looked up from his cereal.

"Why would we want to get matey with _them_?" He jerked his thumb in the direction of the Slytherin table. "They're all gits, every one of them."

"Professor Slughorn seems to think unity is a value," Remus piped up, "As do all the other professors. I mean, we are pretty argumentative, no?"

"Yes we are!" James said loudly, pounding a fist on the table. "And ruddy proud of it! We have to prove ourselves, don't we? And they're never gonna lay off us anyway!"

The rest of table began talking about how worthless the Slytherin lot are, and Lily massaged her temples in an aggravated way. She made brief eye contact with Remus, who was also looking rather bothered. Lily's eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table, where Severus was shaking his hand as if he'd been burned; his facial expression was full of malice.

-

Twelve midnight came slower than it had ever come before, and Lily quickly grew impatient. During class she was reprimanded several times for daydreaming and finally had to resort to doodling in her notebook to pass the time. Finally, many long hours and sketches later, midnight did arrive. Lily climbed out of bed and dressed silently. She put on her jacket, remembering how cold she had been last time, and hoping to God that Severus wasn't planning on another midnight swim. This wasn't likely, of course, but Lily knew that people tended to do crazy things when they fancied another person.

After casting the _Muffliato_ on her dorm-mates as Severus had instructed, Lily opened the window and leaned over the frame. Severus stood at the bottom of the tower on the ground, looking impatient.

"Hello, Romeo!" She said airily, waving a hand in exaggeration. "This reminds me of that balcony scene, minus the sappy stuff, of course," she added hastily.

Severus rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Hello," he replied in a bored voice, "Let's get going, shall we?"

"You are such a killjoy!" Lily insisted before beginning to recite Shakespeare. "O Severus, Severus! Wherefore art thou Severus? Deny thy Potter and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Gryffindor!"

Severus laughed out loud at this, which was somewhat startling to Lily.

"Looks like you're not going to be a Gryffindor much longer, Evans," he said through laughter, "because being Slytherin is one of life's few joys!"

Lily, who knew she best get to the point, leaned further out the window and hissed down to him, forgetting that she could speak as loudly as she wanted, "How am I supposed to get down there without waking up the whole castle, exactly? James has been patrolling around the common room at night to see where I've been off to; he's suspicious and I can't exactly blame him."

Severus put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment before looking back up.

"Jump." He said simply.

Lily gaped.

"_What?_ I think I must have heard you wrong," she said simply, sticking a finger in her ear and twisting it. "Maybe I'm still sick."

"You heard me," he said edgily. "If you want to meet now, you have to jump."

"No!"

Severus rolled his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his anger. Ever since he had begun to see Lily, he had decided that he'd better get control of his anger before he wound up getting expelled. Slowly the adrenaline began to fade out of his veins, and he paced back and fourth once before turning back to the window, grasping the handle of his wand hard.

"Do you trust me?" He asked in a forced calm.

"Of course I do!" Lily replied. "Most of the time, anyway."

"Then jump."

Lily bit her lip, but then nevertheless hoisted herself over the edge of the window. She clamped her eyes and mouth shut and let go of the edge. Severus made a swooshing motion with his wand and yelled "_MOBLICORPUS_!"

Lily slowed to a stop about a foot off the ground as if her body was suspended weirdly on strings. She opened one eye and then the other, and then let out the breath she had been holding, looking incredibly relieved.

"Whew," she said breathlessly. "For a second I thought I was going to fall to my imminent doom."

Severus flicked his wand lazily and Lily fell to the ground with an "_Umph!_" She scrambled to her feet and shot him a glare.

"Not exactly gentle, are you?" she snapped, pulling a twig out of her hair.

He strode over and picked a leaf off her shoulder.

"Not exactly," he replied and began to walk in the opposite direction – towards the forbidden forest.

Sensing danger, Lily set off after Severus. After jogging a bit, she caught stride with him and looked up at him expectantly.

"What's wrong?" she questioned.

"Our attempts aren't working," Severus replied bitterly. "Today I almost ended up without hands for mentioning the benefits of inter-house unity. We should just give up now and say we tried."

Lily stared with her mouth ajar.

"That's the difference between you and me," Lily scoffed. "One failed attempt and you give up and retreat back into your stupid, greasy self-loathing and anger. I think they just need something to refer to, you know, a success story. If they saw us –"

"No!" Severus cut her off sharply, backing off a step. "Don't you get it? It won't work! It _can't_ work! We'd be laughed at!"

Severus turned to her as they reached the outskirts of the forest. His expression was hard and solemn.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," he said quietly.

"If what's a good idea?" Lily said, looking scared.

"All of this," Severus replied, gesturing around him. "You could be hurt, especially if Lucius gets wind of this – sees you with me. It's not safe."

Lily stepped in front of Severus with her hands balled into fists at her sides. Suddenly she felt as if someone had stabbed her in the chest and tried to rip out her heart.

"Don't be so noble!" Lily exclaimed. "Why is it that everyone wants to defend me when I can take care of myself? I don't care how dangerous it is to be with you; you're not walking away if that's your reason!"

"But what would I do if you were hurt on my account… or worse?"

"Then you would be glad you had the chance to love and be loved!" Lily yelled in desperation, falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands. They'd worked so hard to make their relationship work, and now it seemed that he was going to break it off with her. the feeling was terrible.

This last statement seemed to have taken an effect on Severus. He nudged Lily with his foot and pulled her roughly to her feet by the scruff of her jacket.

"Pull yourself together!" He demanded, straightening her jacket and brushing the dirt off her shoulder. "I'm not going anywhere, alright? And neither are you. I'm just telling you what I think, so you don't need to fall apart over it!"

Lily nodded vigorously and put on a face of seriousness.

"Of course not," Lily said briskly. "I was just pretending to fall apart – it was an act."

"Uh huh," Severus said slowly, "Well if that be the case, then you're a brilliant actress."

"Am I?"

"Yes," he said conclusively, "And a rather… pretty one at that."

At this, Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed out loud.

"Did you just say '_pretty_'?"

"What's it to _you_?"

Lily forced him to walk backwards against a nearby tree and ran a hand through his hair, not caring in the slightest that it was greasy. She kissed him lightly on the lips and laughed when he rolled his eyes.

"Severus Snape," Lily said in a serious voice, "I may just have to snog you senseless."

"Hmm, a tempting offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"And why is that?"

Severus raised a sardonic eyebrow at her.

"Because Severus Snape doesn't succumb to temptation," he replied.

"Excuse me?" Lily asked in mocking disbelief. "Who's the one who hexed poor Joey Brown for calling him a git?"

"He had it coming."

"So do you!"

"Ahh good point, good point."

"So can I snog you senseless now?"

"Yes, I think so."

Upon later reflection, Lily thought that all in all, this had been one of her better nights at Hogwarts.

Upon later reflection, Severus was still wondering where his sense had run off to.


	3. Sectumsempra

A/N: New chapter three is up. Hooray!

Disclaimer: I own nothing...

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Three - Sectumsempra

Weeks upon weeks passed and turned into months. Finally June came around, and still Lily and Severus had not spoken of their secret relationship to anyone other than Remus. It seemed that every weekend they would find themselves together at midnight, except, of course, for the dates with the full moon, in which they stayed safely inside. And again on the night before they took their N.E.W.T.s they had stayed in their dormitories for a bit of extra studying. But the testing was over, and the pair of them found that their relationship had turned from a two-sided crush to something much more, and yet both feared to say it aloud. The word was love, and both feared the same things: rejection and pain. But then again, people seemed to be very fearful anyway, for word of a Dark Lord had begun to spread and nobody wanted to die without having loved. On those wonderful nights, however, Severus and Lily would spend their precious time together, sometimes talking animatedly about things that were happening and sometimes not talking much at all. In school, though more specifically in Potions, they would work together. They had been Potions partners before, but back moths ago the assignment hadn't been the convenience it was now. Often times Lily wondered whether they were being obvious; whether their hands were touching far too more to be accidental or whether the comfortable way in which they conversed was all too friendly to be professional. Yes, Severus was as gruff wih her in public as always, but he could not help but talk to her when he could, even if he was sitting in a room full of potential enemies.

Lily and Severus were lying on the grass, staring at the stars. She turned her head to watch him and dwelled upon the memories that she now kept close to her heart. She had learned so much about Severus in the last few months; about his less than desirable parentage; about his passion for school and his ambitious desire to be recognized for his skills; about how miserable it was to not have any friends but Malfoy; about how Malfoy could be such a foul git sometimes; about how amazing the Dark Arts were. Though most of the time Severus listened to what Lily rambled on about, he did get his fair share of talking time.

Severus turned his head and saw that she had been watching him.

"What?" He said flatly.

Lily sighed and sat up. She picked a piece of grass and tied it in a knot.

"Nothing," she said in an unconvincing tone.

Severus sat up with a grunt and picked a piece of grass of his own and tied it like Lily was doing repeatedly.

"Liar," he said calmly, his eyes on the grass between his fingers.

Lily sighed again.

"It's just, I mean, I know you're reluctant and everything," She began hesitantly, "but I'm really sick of hiding all of this from everyone and I still think they need to see two people that have managed to get along from houses that generally… you know…"

"Hate each other," Severus finished.

"Well, yeah." Lily said, "I mean, we're not even trying and unite the houses for _their_ sakes, are we? We're doing it so that we can be together and be left alone about it. What if we just acted like we don't care? Do you think they'll leave us alone?"

"No," Severus replied simply, throwing his piece of grass into the lake.

"I guess not," Lily said, watching his blade of grass float away, and then turned to Severus with determination. She suddenly made up her mind. "But I still want to try. I say we abandon all of this secrecy and act like we don't even notice that you're from Slytherin and I'm from Gryffindor. What do you think?"

"I think it's so crazy that it just might work."

"Really?"

"No, but if you really want it, I'll do it."

"_Really?_!"

"Really."

Overcome with relief and joy, Lily flung herself at him and hugged him, knocking him back onto the grass. She kissed him in her glee, and Severus couldn't help but notice how her eyes were sparkling and beautiful and everything right all put together. The combination of her smile and that perfume that she wore was far more enticing than anything he'd ever encountered. Before he could help it, the words had slipped out of his mouth in a barely audible whisper.

"God I love you."

Severus closed his mouth and his eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. Of course, he wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true, but he was not usually the type to be open about his feelings, and especially not with love. But Lily didn't get up and walk away. On the contrary, she stared down at him in disbelief, her mouth slightly ajar and her hair hanging down over their faces. She placed one hand on either side of him and lifted herself an inch off of him so that she could stare properly.

"You do?"

Not knowing what else to do and knowing that he might just have ended the relationship, Severus nodded. Lily's face broke into another smile and she kissed him again.

"Good," Lily said as she rolled off him, "because I love you as well."

They both stood up and found that they didn't feel awkward at all. In fact, the butterfly effect was totally gone, which meant to Lily that something was true: She was in _real_ love and not just young, puppy love. It was the real deal, and that meant something more than anything else had.

"We should go," Lily said.

"Yeah," Severus replied vaguely, thinking that he'd much rather stay with Lily then go back to his room, were Malfoy, Rosier, Wilkes, Avery and Lestrange were sleeping.

When they embraced he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent deeply. He wondered to himself what perfume she wore and toyed with the idea of asking her.

_This is so much better than being in Slytherin_, he thought to himself.

-

The next morning, Lily went to breakfast very early and then hurried back to the girl's dormitory. She got changed and prepared for the day ahead, which was doomed to be an interesting day. Her walk down to the Great Hall seemed to take an eternity, and she paused just outside the door. A deep, calming breath later, she opened the door and stepped inside.

There he was, standing at the end of the Slytherin table, looking slightly anxious. Severus stood there, flexing his fingers and looking slowly around the room until his eyes landed on Lily in the doorway. Ignoring the beckons from James and Sirius and avoiding eye contact with Remus, who was looking nervous as well, Lily walked straight to the back of the Hall to where Severus was standing.

She marched up to Severus and stopped in front of him, feeling the anxious butterflies from her audacity. She spared him a tiny smile and he smirked back.

"Hi," Lily said quietly.

"Hello," Severus murmured in reply, fighting to keep his eyes from darting around.

Several people turned to watch, for approaching Severus Snape seemed like a very daring thing for Lily Evans to attempt – especially in the morning. And then Lily Evans did something that was against every rule in the Gryffindor book, something that was thought to be impossible: She hugged him. And to the disbelief of everyone in the Hall whose eyes were now glued upon the couple, he hugged her back.

"How are you?" Lily whispered into his ear as they embraced.

"Could be worse," He drawled in his most Snape-like way, raising his brows.

They broke apart and she nodded her head in the direction of the exit.

"Where are you off to?" She asked nonchalantly, taking his hand as they started walking.

"Defense," he replied conversationally. "And you?"

"Charms," She said with the slightest of smiles; James and Sirius were watching her pass by their table, open-mouthed.

When they were outside the doors of the Great Hall, Lily burst into laughter.

"Did you see their faces?" She exclaimed. "Pettigrew's kipper fell right out of his mouth!"

He smirked, but did not seem to house the same appreciation as Lily.

_That is so like him,_ Lily thought to herself, _he's fascinated by the Dark Arts and laughs when people get injured, but he hardly smiles at the _real_ amusing things in life. _

"What?" Lily asked in disbelief. "You hardly seem amused at all!"

Severus watched his feet as they continued down the corridor, his expression slightly grim.

"I just feel a little edgy about it," he said quietly. "You know where I stand on this argument and I don't intend on repeating myself."

Lily stopped outside her classroom.

"Don't worry about it, alright?" she said, squeezing his hand and planting a kiss on his cheek. "Hogsmeade trip today; we'll hang around at the Three Broomsticks and have some butterbeers."

Severus nodded half-heartedly and she disappeared into the classroom, leaving him alone in the hall to sigh and feel unsure.

"The things I do for that girl," Severus muttered to himself as he stalked off towards his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, shaking his head.

Severus had a bad feeling about the exposal of their relationship; he would have gladly waited until the end of school to tell everyone, for he would probably not ever see them after that. He had told Lily this on several occasions, but she didn't listen. Her heart was set now on showing everybody that house unity, namely Gryffindor-Slytherin unity, was possible – something that Severus had thought impossible. But now, what with the Dark Lord on the rise, a little unity seemed necessary and even possible.

The rest of the day passed unmercifully. Apparently the news that Severus Snape, the disliked Dark Arts specialist and Lily Evans, the popular, cheeky good-girl had found love had spread through the school like wildfire. Some people thought that it was sweet and thought that a little unity never hurt anyone. On the other hand, of course, some people did not support it at all. Lucius Malfoy and Severus had a shouting match in Transfiguration and received detentions from an irate McGonagall. All in all, both Lily and Severus received their fair share of ridicule, both separate and apart from each other.

Both Lily and Severus were more than glad to get out of the school and into Hogsmeade, where they could at least breathe air that didn't seem angry at them. So they walked down to the village together. Many people were in Hogsmeade on this fine day to celebrate the end of exams, including professors as well as students. However, many people had grown tired of Hogsmeade had grown tired of the village and would rather sit by the lake or bask in the warm sun. Some people stared and pointed as Severus and Lily walked by, as if Lily and Severus couldn't hear them.

Lily watched as Severus walked alongside her.

"Why do you walk like that?" she asked him.

"Like what?"

"Like that. All twitchy-like. You kind of remind me of a spider when you walk," Lily said nonchalantly. "You only walk like that when people are watching, though. When it's just you and me, you have good posture…kind of. You look a bit peaky, too, kind of like a plant kept in the shade too long."

Severus shot her a sidelong glare and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he hunched his shoulders.

"Thanks," he said coldly. "That makes me feel _so_ much better. How's this?"

Severus straightened his back and held his head higher. Lily roared with laughter and he went back to his normal posture, scowling. They sauntered on until they came into the village. After window-shopping for about five minutes, they grew bored and decided to go to the Three Broomsticks before heading back.

"Alright, as long as you don't try to drag me into Madame Puddifoot's," Severus said grimly, causing Lily to snort unbecomingly.

"Oh darn," she said sarcastically, snapping her fingers. "I was really hoping to stop by and get some tea there."

The duet walked into the Three Broomsticks to see that it was, as usual, incredibly crowded. They managed to find an empty booth and slid in across from each other. They both ordered drinks and as they sipped them they talked casually about odds and ends. Lily was careful to watch him as they spoke and as she told him that Anne had thrown a fit this morning about Lily's choice of men. Lily saw through Severus' pretence of indifference at once and loved him all the more.

"Well I can't say I blame her," he said, taking a small sip of his drink.

Lily swept back her long red hair and waved his words away with her hand.

"Well I'm not going to lie," she said, "You're not as much of a looker as some of the blokes here, I trust you know that by now and I'm going to be blunt with you. Still, there's something… I don't know what it is, but it's there."

Her voice faded to nothing and she set her eyes on the view outside. It was Severus' turn to watch her curiously, not knowing what that 'something' was that she was talking about any more than she.

Upon exiting the Three Broomsticks, James Potter came running up to Lily, looking angry. James shook Lily's shoulders vigorously, causing her to become rather dizzy.

"Are you nuts?" He roared. Spittle flew from his mouth and showered a very disgusted Lily. "Hanging around with scum like Snivellus! You'll get hurt or taken advantage of. He's just another one of them – a snake; there's not a drop of good in him!"

Severus stepped between James and Lily and stared down his hooked nose at James.

"Go away, Potter, it's none of your business what she does," He said calmly, though his hand twitched towards his pocket; James' words had begun to take an effect.

"Severus, no!" Lily shrieked as she saw this motion. "Don't, you'll be expelled! Both of you!"

Lucius came running over next, his wand drawn and a malicious sneer on his pointed face.

"Malfoy, what do you want?" James snapped, shoving Severus out of his way to better look at Lucius.

Lucius didn't look fazed at all. In fact, he merely laughed cruelly and raised his wand.

"To duel, of course," Lucius said. "We need to sort out some inter-house… differences." He turned towards Severus and grinned. "I don't know what charm she used on you, Snape, but don't worry; I know a great remedy for your infatuation with this Mudblood."

Lily gave a shout and jumped between Potter and Lucius, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. McGonagall chose this time to be inconveniently walking down the street and saw the next chain of events that occurred.

"You foul Slytherin!" James roared. "How _dare_ you call Lily that? You want a fight? Well I'll give you a fight!"

"No, James, don't!" Lily cried, turning to face James while still trying to block him from Lucius. "Don't you understand? There will be a bigger price than just suspension or expulsion to pay if you fight him!"

Lucius, who had taken the Slytherin comment seriously, pointed his wand at James from under Lily's arm and bellowed "_SECTUMSEMPRA!_"

Lily screamed as gashes ripped across James' body, spurting blood in all directions. James fell backwards onto the ground with a shout and Lily fell to her knees in front of him, whipping out her wand and trying desperately to cease the flow of blood from James' face. McGonagall gave a shout from down the street and broke into a run towards them.

Lily turned to Malfoy and cried, "You loathsome little –!"

Malfoy swiped his wand again and Lily bent double in pain and fell back onto the ground, screaming in agony. The spell had caused her to feel pain as if she were being repeatedly stabbed in the abdomen. The curse stopped as abruptly as it had started and Lily looked up to see that Severus was shaking in anger, his wand pointed at Lucius' chest. Lucius, who was being held still by one of Severus' nonverbal spells, stared in shock, his wand lying useless on the ground. Lily tried to stagger to her feet and grab Severus to stop him, but it was too late.

"NO!" She screamed, and Severus retaliated to Lucius' actions.

Severus made a wild motion in the air with his wand and the same gashes that had appeared on James appeared on Lucius. Lucius fell back and lay motionless on the ground, which was beginning to turn red with the two men's blood. Screams echoed from all around from bystanders and McGonagall pushed through the audience to get to the foursome. Severus wheeled around to see Lily, panting and crying and covered in blood. He took one look at her then turned on his heel and pelted back up towards the castle. Narcissa Black ran forward through the crowd and dropped to her knees in front of her significant other.

"Snape, you traitor!" she screamed, lifting Lucius' head onto her lap and stroking his blonde hair away from his blood-soaked forehead.

"It's wasn't his fault," Lily gasped through sobs as she tended to James' wounds. "It was m-mine."

Meanwhile, Avery and Rosier had shoved through the crown and were stemming the flow of blood from Malfoy's face and chest while Narcissa gaped at Lily. McGonagall dropped to her knees in front of James and conjured two stretchers. She muttered an incantation and the blood stopped flowing from James' face. She levitated the two men onto their stretchers and sent them in the direction of the castle.

"He hexed his own friend!" muttered a nearby Hufflepuff to a Ravenclaw.

"Well that's just like them Slytherins, isn't it?" The Ravenclaw replied. "Always backstabbing and scheming."

Remus and Sirius, closely followed by Peter, came running up and tried to console Lily. Finally Sirius bent over and scooped the hysterical Lily off the ground and carried her up to the castle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bawled into his chest, covered in James' blood; everything had been screwed up in five minutes. Severus would surely be expelled, and he added to Slytherin's terrible reputation just a little more by attacking his own friend.

Inside the Gryffindor common room, Sirius set Lily down on one of the couches and ran off with Peter to go and see James. Remus, however, stayed behind. He sat Lily up and calmed her down, and then looked her straight in the eye with a grave expression.

"I told you I'd help you out of tight spots," he said slowly to her, wiping a tear away from her face with his thumb. "What do you need me to do?"

Lily closed her eyes and sniffed, thinking hard. She gulped and wiped her bloody hands on her clothes and tried to keep her lip from trembling.

"I need you to find him, Remus," Lily said. "Tell him to meet me in the Room of Requirement. You've got that map, right?"

Remus nodded.

"Alright, then when they come to interrogate as to whether you've seen Severus or me, you tell them you last saw us heading for the exit, okay?"

Remus nodded again and Lily hugged him. She stood up and looked down at her bloody hands.

"I have some unfinished business I need to take care of with him, Remus," Lily said. "I'm going to take a shower and put on my uniform and then I'm going to get up to the seventh floor. I'll be waiting."

Remus nodded yet again and she disappeared up the stairs. Remus sighed, ran upstairs to get the map, went to visit James briefly, then set out for his task.

-

Severus pushed open the door to the room and stepped in, amazed that he had never noticed it before. It was massive, with a high Victorian-style ceiling. Standing in the middle of the room, which was empty, was Lily. They stared at each other with blank expressions as Severus closed and locked the door behind him. He stood at the door and she stood in her spot, leaning slightly on a nearby chair for support. Her cheeks bore the unmistakable signs of recent crying, and her hands were still slightly stained with James' blood. Her eyes were dry now, though, as she stared blankly. He noticed that she had undoubtedly showered and cleaned up.

"You arranged to meet me?" Severus said, panting slightly from having run from the authorities and half the school.

"Yes," Lily replied weakly. "Remus is supposed to cover for us – tell them that he saw us darting away from the school when they come looking. He's got a really nifty map on him."

For the first time Severus looked around the room in wonder. It was very plain and yet very Victorian.

"What is this place?" he asked as he looked around. "I've never seen it before."

"The Room of Requirement," Lily replied. "It's a room that helps those in need. James found it a few years ago. I made it so that nobody can open the door except for you and me. I wanted to… to talk." She paused and he could tell that her resolution of calm was diminishing quickly. "Are you alright?" she asked in a shaky voice.

He looked down at his feet and, much to his dismay, felt a small lump in his throat. The school had been his sanctuary for the last seven years, and now he was going to have to leave earlier than he had expected. Not only that, but Potter's words were still ringing in his ears like a recorded sound.

"I'll be on the train tomorrow," Severus said quietly. "They're not going to snap my wand because of the circumstances in which I attacked Lucius. They called it defense of Potter and you or something stupid. But still… Potter was right. I am nothing more than another snake, without a drop of good in my veins."

His voice broke and he sank to his knees, clutching at his throat in despair. He hit his head on the floor repeatedly, as if this could stem the flow of tears that were pouring uncontrollably from his eyes for the first time in years. Lily ran forward and pulled Severus away from the floor to stop him from permanently injuring himself. She dropped to her knees in front of him, took his head in her hands and kissed the places on his face where his tears had fallen. Lily took Severus by the shoulders and shook him hard once, forcing him to look at her.

"Don't you say it, Severus," Lily said severely, using her sleeve to dry his face. "I know it's not true and so do you. You just lose control, I_ know_. That doesn't mean that you're a bad person."

There was a pause in which they both looked at the ground. When Lily next spoke, her voice was shaky and slow.

"Let me go with you," she said. "I've taken the N.E.W.T.s, I'm as good as graduated."

Severus shook his head and grabbed Lily's hands. He stared her in the face sternly.

"No, you must stay," he said firmly. "Nothing's more important that education, than learning everything you can. I may have blown it for myself by attacking Lucius, but you can still finish what we started all those years ago. Finish school, graduate, work hard. Technically, since I've taken the tests, I'm certified, but graduating is a privilege I won't have."

Severus pulled Lily to her feet and looked down upon her. He seemed to have recuperated and gone into a state of calm resignation. He stared into her green eyes in disbelief of everything that had happened to him in the recent months. Everything from the dance to this very meeting. Severus had gone from an immature, angry teenager to a slightly more mature, way less angry, and even happy young man, and he found himself grateful. He pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm going to turn myself in," He murmured into her ear. "By this time tomorrow, I'll be back at my house. I'll get a job, earn some money, and wait for you until you graduate. I _will_ wait for you, no matter what."

"I know," Lily replied when he released her. "Which leads me to my other reason for this meeting."

Her cheeks turned the slightest red, and he stared down at her in perplexity as she loosened her tie and kicked off her shoes. Severus raised his eyebrows at her. She withdrew her wand and pointed it at her chest, then muttered an incantation that Severus did not recognize.

"What are you doing?"

He looked over her shoulder and saw something that most certainly wasn't there moments before. A large four-poster bed with scarlet hangings and red sheets was sitting in the middle of the room, in what had been an empty space. He looked back down at her in confusion to see her casting away her tie onto the floor. She looked up at him, suppressing a slightly embarrassed smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he habitually wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What's going on?" Severus asked, unable to hide his puzzlement.

She kissed him deeply, and he loosened his tie a bit, for he found himself feeling a little hot under the collar.

"Shut up," she murmured as she began to plant kisses down his jaw and neck. "You take pride in being smart, but you're _so_ naïve."

His eyes widened as her fingers began fumbling with his belt and comprehension suddenly dawned on him.

"What the –? Oh!"

-

The next morning, Severus and Lily stood in Hogsmeade Station. His bags were packed and standing beside him and she had silent tears flowing down her face. Severus' eyes were dry now, though, and he knew that he had to pay the price for his mistakes.

The conductor stuck his head out of the window of the scarlet train.

"Let's go!" The conductor said. "We leave in one minute!"

Lily looked up at him and threw her arms around his neck. Severus picked her up and held her tight in his arms, not knowing what would come in the next few days or months or even years, just knowing that waiting for this girl would be one of the hardest things that he had ever faced. He put her back down and she kissed him softly.

"Go on," She said, bending over and plucking up his bags. "They're waiting for you."

Severus took his bags from Lily and got on the train. The scarlet train left the platform and he found that he couldn't look back lest he break down again. If he had looked back, however, he would have seen the castle that had provided him sanctuary and the one woman he ever loved both shrinking away into the distance with the rising sun casting a red light behind them both.

Lily walked the long walk back up to the castle alone, positively drowning in her misery.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," she whispered to herself as she pushed open the door to the castle, "That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

James met her as she opened the portrait hole and stepped in, wiping the tears from her eyes. He hugged her lightly, for he was in great pain from his encounter with the curse, but his eyes were full of concern.

"Are you alright, Lily?" James asked quietly.

"No," Lily replied, "But I will be soon."

James looked at the ground then slowly back up at her.

"He was a Slytherin and you liked him anyway," James said quietly. "I didn't think it was possible."

Lily looked into his hazel eyes and sighed.

"He was the same, no matter what house he was in. What's in a name? That by which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

There was a pause in which Lily and James stared at each other in silence.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, James," Lily said quietly, and turned to go back to bed, for the hour was early.

"I understand, Lily," James said softly as Lily walked up the stairs like a condemned woman. "I understand."


	4. That Awful Boy

A/N: We've reached the end, my dear readers. This rewrite has been enlightening, and I only wish it had been done after I read _On Writing_ by Stephen King, which has been quite helpful in the art of improving my work. Oh well. thanks for sticking around, thanks for reviewing, thanks for everything!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, this ship would exsist in the canon world and cause an uproar in book seven.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Four - That Awful Boy

Lily sat in the kitchen of her house by herself four months later. Petunia was in the sitting room, watching TV, but the two sisters hardly spoke anymore anyway. Lily had graduated with the rest of her class but had not seen nor heard of Severus since their sorrowful parting. She often wondered where he was, but she knew not where to find him and knew better than to apparate at his side. Lily wondered if Severus had been hurt, or if he had left her, or if he was working hard trying to earn money. The doorbell rang and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Petunia made to get off the settee, but by that time Lily had already gotten up and was heading towards the door.

"I got it," Lily announced dully, and opened the door.

Standing there, draped in long black robes and looking grave, was Severus. Lily gasped and threw herself upon him in a tight embrace. Severus didn't hug her back, however, and this scared her.

"Come in, Severus!" Lily said hastily and stepped back to allow him entry.

He moved swiftly into the house, robes billowing behind him, and she closed the door slowly, not exactly knowing what to say or do. Petunia looked up quickly at him, back to the TV, and then did a double-take. She turned off the TV and stalked out of the room, as if having Severus in her house had offended her in some way. Lily offered Severus a seat and he took one with a word of thanks, and she sat down next to him. She could tell that he was bearing ill news; his troubled echoed in the wake of his silence as if he had been yelling.

"How are you, Severus?" Lily asked quietly.

He clasped his hands convulsively together on the table and stared down at them as if they were mildly entertaining.

"I was visited shortly after I got back to my house," he said, still staring at his hands, "by the Dark Lord himself."

Lily gasped, not noticing nor caring that Petunia was listening on the other side of the wall with interest.

"What did he want?" Lily pressed.

"He wanted me to join his Death Eaters."

"I can't believe it!" Lily exclaimed. "You didn't say you would, did you?"

Severus said nothing, but kept his eyes on his hands. Lily clasped her hand over her mouth in horror.

"I can't believe you!" She shouted.

"He threatened me," Severus said, "with you."

"No!"

"Yes. You're incredibly gifted with potions, you know, and would be incredibly valuable to him. And then he knew about our relationship somehow, don't ask me, I don't know how, and he threatened to set the dementors on you if I didn't comply. I don't think he expected me to object at all at first; everyone knows that I was famous for being fascinated with the Dark Arts at school. Do you know what dementors are, Lily?"

Severus looked up at Lily for the first time and she swallowed uncertainly.

"Yes and no," she said, "I've only heard so much about them – you know people don't like to discuss them in school."

"They're among the most terrible creatures that walk this earth," Severus said coldly. "They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban, and suck the happiness and life out of anyone who comes too close. They'll kiss you if they get the chance."

"_Kiss_ you?" Revulsion was etched on Lily's beautiful features.

"The dementor's kiss," Severus said with grim relish, "is when they suck your soul out through your mouth. It's said to be nearly impossible to watch and hardly ever done."

"So they _kill_ you?" Lily said, astounded.

"No, you can live without your soul, but you are just an empty shell," Severus said, "It is a fate worse than death. Needless to say, I did not need telling twice. I agreed right at once as if I had been dreaming about it for years and the Dark Lord was most pleased."

Lily eyed him with shock. Her gaze fell upon his arms.

"So," She said quietly, "Do you have one of those… things on you now?"

Severus nodded and pulled back his left sleeve. Lily gave another gasp and felt tears well up in her eyes as she saw the terrible Dark Mark burned upon his flesh.

"Oh Sev," Lily breathed, "What are we going to do?"

Severus looked up at her as if he had been expecting this reaction all along.

"_We_ aren't going to do anything," Severus said, rolling his sleeve back down to hide his Dark Mark. "I have to do as the Dark Lord says now, I am bound to him. I have come here without telling him so I can tell you this, and to end our relationship."

Lily's mouth dropped open and she felt her heart plummet.

"You can't!" She exclaimed, more tears springing to her eyes. "You can't do that!"

"I must."

"No!" Lily burst into tears and slipped to the floor upon her knees.

"The Dark Lord would have you worse than killed!"

"Then let him come!"

"No! I couldn't let that happen! You must move on in life – you can't hold on forever!"

"But I love you!" Lily choked, sobbing and staring up at him through curtains of fiery hair.

Severus rose from his chair and turned his back to her. He strode swiftly to the door and opened it.

"Exactly," He said quietly, and walked outside, leaving a sobbing Lily Evans by herself to cry on the kitchen floor, knowing that they would never meet again.

They say that it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, but Severus was not sure that he agreed with that statement. If he had never loved Lily Evans, he probably would have joined the Death Eaters anyway and would have saved himself the pain and sorrow of walking away. But the one thing that Severus knew now was that walking away was his only option for dear love's sake.

-

Severus stumbled into the Headmaster's office with a half-empty bottle in his hand. Dumbledore stood up from his desk and hurried over to Severus. Severus swayed on the spot and Dumbledore managed to coax him into a chair. They both sat down, Severus in front of the desk and the Headmaster at his normal spot.

"I have a feeling that I know why you are here," Dumbledore said calmly.

With shaking hands, Severus raised the bottle to his lips and drank deeply. He slammed the bottle back down on the desk and coughed manically. Dumbledore looked slightly disgusted for a moment, but then drew his wand.

"I think," Dumbledore said with a flick of his wand and the bottle disappeared. "That you have had enough," He flicked his wand again and a glass of water appeared on the table in front of Severus. "To drink."

Severus hiccupped and let his head fall down on the desk in front of him. His breathing was heavy and his chest heaved. He looked quite a mess; unshaved, with his hair all over the place and his eyes bloodshot; he looked as if he hadn't showered in a while and was unseemly intoxicated. Though his appearance was frightful and he was drunk beyond approachability, Dumbledore allowed him to sit before him.

"Talk to me, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly, his fingertips touching together in front of his face.

When Severus spoke, his words were slurred and clumsy.

"The guilt," Severus said slowly, "The guilt is eating me alive. I wish to live no longer. I can't."

"The prophecy," Dumbledore said quietly, though he sounded grave.

Severus picked up the glass of water and drank deeply, then nodded as he did so. Water splashed down his front, seeping through his black robes. He didn't seem to notice that he had done so, however.

"I joined to protect her," Severus slurred tearfully, resting his head on his arms. "I joined because I loved her. And now I've killed her."

He broke down and began to sob uncontrollably on the desk. This startling image did not seem to faze Dumbledore, however, for he patted Severus on the arm and sighed.

"How often we destroy the things we love," Dumbledore said dolefully. "But you can get out of this with your life, Severus. You were placed here, as I understand, to spy on me for Voldemort?"

Severus twitched at the name, but sniffed and nodded without raising his head from his arms.

"Then stay here, Severus," Dumbledore said. "Stay here and ease your grief. I am sure that Lily would have understood that you had no idea what relaying the prophecy would have done. If you work for the Order you can begin to change your fate."

"It took her years, but she eventually moved on and married Potter. But I loved always her, Albus, even after she got married. I loved her," Severus choked, "And I still do."

"I know you do, Severus," Dumbledore said sadly, "I know."

-

"And what the ruddy hell are dementors?"

"They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban," said Aunt Petunia.

"How d'you know that?" Harry asked her, astonished.

Petunia looked quite appalled with herself. She glanced at Uncle Vernon in fearful apology, then lowered her hand slightly to reveal her horsey teeth.

"I heard – that awful boy – telling _her _about them – years ago," she said jerkily.

"If you mean my mum and dad, why don't you use their names?" said Harry loudly, but Aunt Petunia ignored him. She seemed horribly flustered.

-

Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Severus.

"That's because he is sixteen and has no idea what lies in store! Why, Severus? Why my son? It is too dangerous! This is vengeance for Lucius' mistake, I know it!"

Severus said nothing. He looked away from the sight of her tears as though they were indecent, but he could not help but remember another woman that had cried on the floor for fear of losing someone that they loved. He wondered painfully what it would have been like to have his own son; would he have done the same as Narcissa, and beg to save his son's life? He would never know, for the time in which it was possible for him to be wed and love freely had passed.

-

"And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so… _no_!"

Harry had dived for his wand; Severus shot a hex at it and it flew feet away into the darkness and out of sight.

"Kill me then," panted Harry, the boy that had caused him more grief than Voldemort himself, "Kill me like you killed him, you coward –"

Severus was thrown once again back into the terrible flashbacks of his youth; giving up everything to save her; finding out the prophecy he had relayed had cost him the one thing he fought for in this miserable life; standing in the back of the Potter's funeral, cloaked and hidden; he himself on his knees in front of Lily's grave, apologizing between gasps of breath; the single white lily that he had left at her grave along with a note:

_I told you so._

_- Your secret admirer._

"DON'T CALL ME COWARD!"

-

_Fin._


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